Report on 65

It was a great plan. 65 miles before my appointment at 2pm in Sandy. I left around 6:15AM and headed north. Beautiful overcast day, just like I like them. Just cool enough that I wasn’t overheated, though I couldn’t figure out what was destroying my phone battery rapidly (2-3% per minute is really odd for my Samsung Galaxy 7, even if I was using every GPS program out there, Spotify, and playing games – it just doesn’t happen, and I wasn’t doing all those things.) I shut off my phone 3 miles in to conserve the battery, made sure I changed the external battery (yeah, it was plugged in that whole time, too, making it even more strange), and kept riding. At approximately 8 miles in I stopped to check how far until I got to my planned meet-up with Randy, and I was an hour ahead of schedule, so I texted him the revised time and turned it back off. So as not to draw out the anticlimactic answer to what the heck was going on, the cord I was using appears to have been the culprit. When Randy got to the meeting spot, I changed out the cord for the one in the car, and we were back in business. My Runtastic app had been long-since dropped, but I knew where I was and how much farther I had to go.

After refueling at the 40 mile mark, I jumped back on and headed back south. I’d had a nail appointment set for 2pm and it looked like I was going to be an hour early, so Randy planned to meet me there and we’d go get some lunch before.

There was a 7 minute delay while I waited for a freight train to pass in downtown SLC – the fun thing about that being that I “passed” 17 cars stopped at the same crossing, and not everyone “passed” me before I was past the crossing. 🙂

And then I was back on the trail southbound again. I ride often on the paved trails around town. It’s safer, and there are frequently undulating mini-hills to break up the monotony of a mostly flat valley ride. I also don’t have to stop frequently for stop signs and lights, as the major streets have pedestrian under-passes or over-passes. The wind picked up and I got blasted by rain and elm seeds in a roughly 10 minute “storm” with an accompanying headwind.

About 15-20 minutes later I came around a corner I have turned probably 50 times at roughly the 55 mile mark, and felt quite nauseous. I slowed down and must have blacked out, because the next thing I knew I was sitting in the middle of the trail with my head between my knees. The bike was leaning against a concrete barrier between the trail and the river. Well, I know better than to get back on the bike, even though I felt much better for the most part by that point. Texted Randy and he came and got me.

Last night after I got home and showered I looked at the skin on my wrist – there were tiny hives all over. I suspect something in the air (elm seeds? pollen?) gave me an allergic reaction and caused my problem. Well, that won’t do. I’ll be taking Claritin with me on the trip, for sure, especially since I don’t know what it was that caused it.

T minus twenty days. This is real.

Shout out to my friend and owner of Beauty Trendz, Tammy Dodds, who takes amazing care of my feet despite what I put them through. My fingernails and toenails are so cute, too! http://beautytrendzinc.com/service-professionals/ Mur gives a heavenly massage and haircuts, and Rachel is a wizard with haircolor! (the rest of the team are amazing, too, I just haven’t been able to have them all do something for me yet). The whole team chats with everyone as they’re having salon treatments done, and it feels like a family. If you’re in the Salt Lake (Sandy) area, give them a shout! (801)676-9648. Unless you’re an impossible customer. Then go somewhere else. You’re not going to be happy either way.

Basic Premise

I am riding my bicycle from Westport, WA to Key West, FL. 3,800 miles. Follow my progress and what I learn along the way here.

Life is a journey, ENJOY THE RIDE!

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